About Us

Events

Special Events

Winter 2009 Theme Semester: "The Universe: Yours to Discover"

The college of Literature Science and the Arts recently announced the theme for the winter 2009 semester will be "The Universe: Yours to Discover". This theme was chosen to align with the UNESCO International Year of Astronomy (IYA) theme. Full details will be on the theme semester website: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/universe/. Visit the department's theme semester website for the calendar and information on the related programming. Some selected astronomy department highlights:

Distinguised Lecture Series selected Friday evenings Jan - April, followed by free planetarium shows and observatory open houses.
Special Peach Mountain Radio Observatory Open House April 26, 2009 (Sunday) from 2-4
New Classes: ASTRO 188 and a revised 115
Meanwhile, More Light mural for the Dennison building windows completed in November '08
Michigan Astronomy Research exhibit in the Exhibit Museum Rotunda, Jan - July

To get more information on other IYA events, check out the international site at http://www.astronomy2009.org/, the US national site at http://astronomy2009.us/, and the NASA site at http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov/index.htm. Be sure to check out the IYA trailer.

Regular Events

Astronomy Department Colloquia (past colloquia are accessible from this page)

Colloquia are usually on Thursdays at 4 in 807, but you should check the schedule to be sure. A reception in the Owl room preceeds the colloquia about 15 minutes before the colloquia begin.

Physics Department Colloquia

Journal Club/ Lunchtalks (past lunch talks are accessible from this page)

The Graduate Students hold talks each Tuesday at noon. Check the information page for topics.

Michigan State University - University of Michigan Interchange talks

The Astronomy Department High Energy group and Michigan State university Department of Astrophysics have started a speaker interchange. Talks will generally take place on select Fridays. For the dates, times and locations of talks, please visit the MSU-UM High Energy Interchange Talks page.

Astro Coffee

The department holds a coffee discussion of current astronomical research on Tuesday at 4:30 in the OWL room. Members of the department can access the current and past presenters and the papers they'll be presenting on the astrocoffee CTools site.

Molecule Fun

Molecule Fun is a series of presentations regarding the physics of molecules in astronomy. This year we will be reviewing "classic" papers that are basic to molecular clouds and star formation. The group meets in the owl room. To receive announcements of the next meeting time and topic, join the email group. A uniqname or friend account is required to join the group. Contact Prof. Ted Bergin for more information or if you don't have a uniqname or friend account.

Stellar Populations Group

The stellar populations group meets every other Tuesday at 2 PM in the OWL to discuss current journal articles or conference results related to stellar populations and galaxies. Fall term meetings began Sept 16. Contact Monica Valluri to be added to the mailing list.

Inter-X Medium Group

The IXM group meets Tuesdays at noon in the OWL room to discuss anything related to "gaseous" astrophysics (> a few pc), whether intergalactic, intracluster or interstellar. Contact Fabian Heitsch for more information.

Star formation Journal club

The Star Formation Journal Club meets every other Tuesday at 3pm in the OWL room. Contact Sarah Ragan to be added to the mailing list. Members of the star-formation group can send email to sf-group "at" umich.edu. You can join the group by going to the UM online directory.

Extreme Astrophysics

The extreme astrophysics group meets on Fridays at noon in the owl. Participants are encouraged to bring their lunch.

Meetings, Seminars and Workshops

Information on meetings, seminars and workshops sponsored by the department, past and present, are on the meetings page.

Open Houses and Educational Events

Public open houses are offered at Angell Hall on select Friday evenings by the Student Astronomical Society, and at Peach Mountain on select Saturday evenings by the Lowbrows.

The department takes part in the Michigan Math and Science Scholars program for high school students. Check out their website for details.

Other Events

There are several not-so-serious events for department members, including an annual picnic (pictured here) and holiday party. Additionally, department members regularly get together around noon in the OWL room for lunch, and around 4PM on Fridays for "tea".

How to find us. Contact information, maps and written directions to the department.